Improvement in vehicle-wheels



F. W. KUEHN. Vehicle-Wheel.

No. 218,444. Patented Aug. 12, 1879 Fig-3- VVIT'NEE'IEEISZ |NVENTEJRZMPEIERS, FHOTO-LH'NOGRAPMEIL WASHINGTON n c UNITED- STATES PATENTOFFICE.

FREDRIGK W. KUEHN, OF RESERVE TOWNSHIP, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PA.

IMPROVEMENT lN VEHICLE-WHEELS Specification forming part of LettersPatent N 0. 218,444, dated August 12, 1879; application filed June 14,1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDRIGK W. KUEHN, of Reserve township, in thecounty of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented cerlain newand useful Improvements in Wheels for Vehicles; and I do hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itpertains to make and use it, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, which form part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in wheels for vehicles; and itconsists in anavebox which has a screw-thread on the outside of itsinner end and a thread on the inside of its outer end, and which isunited to the hub in the act of casting, as will be more fully de-'scribed hereinafter.

The accompanying drawings represent my invention.

Figure l is a vertical section of my invention, and Figs. 2 and 3 aredetails of the same.

The hub or nave A is of cast-iron, and has on the inside of its flange Ga seriesof projections, b, in number corresponding to the number ofspokes to be contained in the wheel. The projections b are distributedat equal distances from the center of the hub and from each other, andtheir forms are truncated cones pointing to the center of the hub,increasing in width and length from their faces downward to the place oftheir attachment. This form is adopted to tighten the spokeswhen beingdriven home by forcibly increasing the pressure against one another.

The spokes have recesses a, one on a side, with well-defined shoulders,by which they are held in place by the projections I). They are taperingtoward their inner ends, and when in place bear against one another soas to present a solid body, remaining a little higher than the inclosedprojections.

The nave-box D is made of wrought-iron, and united with the nave in theprocess of casting. It is threaded inside at its outer and outside atits inner end, and is provided with a shoulder at its' inside, offeringa bearing to the movable box (I, which is made of cast-iron, threaded atone end and screwed into the navebox D.

To cast the nave the mold in the sand has a circular opening for theintroduction of the nave-box. This box, having recesses or indentationsin its sides, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, is placed in theopening, and then the molten metal is poured into the mold around thebox. The metal entering these i11- dentations unites the two partsrigidly together.

The box cl has a flange atits end that bears against the shoulder in thenave-box, and by it is held in place.

The object of introducing the box d, and making it removable, is toreadily replace it by another when worn out without injury to the nave,and to protect the nave-box aga nst friction.

The inner flange or clamping-plate, (l, is screwed on the nave-box D,andmay be tightened whenever the shrinking of the spokes requires it.The face of this plate is formed to only press against theslightly-projecting spokes, in order to confine them anew should theybecome loosened from shrinking, but not to come in contact wit-h theprojections b, which would prevent the tightening of the spokes. Toattainthis end the face of the clamping-plate O has a circular cavity,m, where it covers the projections b, and is thus prevented from bearingagainst them.

The advantage gained by constructing wheels in the aforesaid manner isto remove all friction from the nave-box by transfering it to aremovable box that is secured at both ends-at the one by ascrew-thread,at the other by a shoulder bearing against its flange.

Another advantage is to be found in the construction of the spokes, theyhaving shoulders above and below the projections b, and being forciblydriven into their places, and compressed, as it were, into one solidpiece, cannot become loose if made of seasoned wood, but when necessarymay be taken out separately withoutinjurytotheremainder. Should,however, the wood shrink and the spokes become loose, by simplytightening the clamping-plate the spokes are again firmly held in theirplaces.

In case a spoke should break and require to be removed, it can be donewithout taking off the tire from the wheel or disturbing the felliesbypnshing the spoke out of its place and and a thread on the inside ofits outer end, substituting another one, whereby time and substantiallyas set forth.

money are saved. ln testimony that I claim the foregoing 1 The naveboxl) is made of wrought-iron to have hereunto set my hand this 5th day ofgive greater strength to the hub. June, 1879.

lH ewing thus described my lllYBllLiOll, I FREDRIOK W KUEHN c ann- Anave-box, I), which is united to the hub Witnesses:

in the act of casting, and having a serewl). MEYER,

thread out on the outside of its inner end F. WM. KUEHN, Jr.

